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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1905)
- 1 thjs ru bund AT.OBEGgyi, . ipja&4$& XAiYW , ANt lF T1AIg OFtVCGON LAGGING CAMF" I - I at STEAM HAS SUPPLANTED ANIMAL POWER; COLUMBIA COUNTY'S WEALTH OF STANDING TIMBER v. w . mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm""" -rajssssES?tte iMiwiflMKMik Lrit , mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmv ..mfMBfWmMmmmf ww P'Vt f --w Tm,aF' THE Immense logs of which the For estry building at the Lewis and Clark Exposition Is constructed came from.. Columbia County, and the great squared timber Oregon sent to the St. Louis Exposition came from the Fame place, near Clatskanle, and was gotten out by S. Benson. i ' Columbia ' County has 10.000.000.000 feet of the best standing timber in the world, and but a few short years ago the supply was deemed to be practically inexhausti ble. When one rides on the Northern Pacific tralnspast Scappoose and Warren and sees the broad fields that stretch away toward the hilltops, it Is hard to realize that less than 20 years ago these fields were covered with standing timber, and that they were cleared up by the low and laborious process of. logging with ox teams, converting Into cord wood, and burning In log heaps. AH logging in those days was done by cx-t earns over skldroads, and the driver vl the best team of bulls was a great man in the community. He was a high priced .helper, hte wages being $130 per month and beard. aad, provided he could make geed with the bulls, there' was no dagger ef Me being out of employment. Like Shakeapeare's Mir, fee was "fall of strange oaths." but the tsam seemed to understand his dialect and to rather like being cussed at as "they bent their patient necks to the ponderous yoke and dragged the giant firs from their falling places onto the skids and down the greased road Into the creek, or bay. Stcaih Supplants Animal Power. But logging by such primitive methods has practically passed away, and in place of the bellowing of cattle and the loud oaths of the puncher, one hears the shriek of the locomotive whistle and the rattle of improved machinery. Steam and elec-i triclty Tire the agencies employed, and the capacity for denudation has been mul tiplied until now there Is anxiety as to where good timber is to be procured in the near future. With their present ca pacity the camps of Columbia Count) could cut every stick of good timber on the river, side of the divide within ten years, and then the roads must be ex tended on Into the Nehalem Valley. I have taken Illustrations for the benefit of The Sunday Oregonlan's readers, of an up-to-date logging camp, that of the Teon &. Pel ton Logging Company, lo cated about four miles frota the tows of .Rainier. The Illustrations show the en tire process of bantling logs, frem tb time Um tre Is felled la the Ioret uatil r It is deposited in the slough at the foot of the incline. The equipment of the Yeon & Pelton camp consists of three 23-ton Baldwin engines and one 45-ton Climax, seven donkey engines. 24 sets of logging cars, eight miles of standard gauge railroad, and a lowering machine to lower the cars down an incline 2300 feet long. 2000 feet of which bona 23-per cent grade. The lowering machine consists of one pair of 16x20 engines, two batteries of band brakes, one emergency brake and 3200 feet of l4-inch cable, capable of sus taining a strain of 72 tons. The time oc cupied In lowering and raising a train of three cars on this Incline is rour minutes each way. and It takes 20 minutes to make the trip, including unloading about 20.000 feet of logs, valued, at present prices, at about $156. About 36 trips per day can be made over the road, and a total output of about 00,660 .feet of logs can be made; but the real average does not exceed over half that amount, or about 200.OOO feet of logs dally. To handle this enormous output from the standing tree eight miles back In the forest requires the services of about 135 men. from the efflcient skilled mechanic at $4 per day to the lowest paid labor In the camp, at the liberal pay e-f 5XM per day. Owt e- these wag the mea pay their board at the rate, of HM per wek; ami tfeer live "sCs well aa4 probaUy better than the same class- of workmen in the cities, as Mr. Teon Ls a firm believer In the dectrine that well-fed and, -contented employes are profitable to their 'em ployer. . The eutpat of the Teen & Pelton camp Is taken entirely by the North Pacific Lumber Cempaay, of Portland. The road was established abeat eight years ago. by J. H. Petenwn, and Ic the efaeet logging railroad new in existence .In tMs ceanty, tkoogk. its eQUipmeat wbea Jtrat con structed was nothing like what it Is at the present time. The striking feature of the Yeon & Pelton camp is the incline, down which the loaded trucks are lew ered to the slough. Frier to the advent of the present manager a chute was made use of. for this -purpoee. and Mr. Teon. informs me that nearly 15 per cent of the. logs were shattered so badly as to be vm-iless for lumber., which' seem to have been almet a criminal -Wie e( eue t!mbr- The total output of Yeon & Pelton and their predecessor up to date is in the neighborhood of 225.000.000 feet of logs, the valuation of which, at the present price, would be about 51,600,000. In addi tion to the employment given to a. large number of men the presence of this In dustry has been a great boon to the neighborhood, as It has supplied a local market for the farm, products, the single item of milk totaling $120 per month. What the profits ot the firm may be no one knows, or cares, but It is safe to say that this county stands in need ot more such Institutions to take the timber from the land and prepare the way for the settler. Of course, the permanent pros perity of the county depends upon agri culture, but logging is the pioneer of ag riculture, and without it many years would elapse before any perceptible im pressfon could be made upon our great areas of fore3t. To those who are inclined to take a pessimistic view of life and to insist that the day of opportunity for men to achieve financial success by their own endeavors Is past, we commend a study of the career of John Yeon, and we can point to dozens of equal worth In this county. Mr. Teon was born in Plantagenet, Ontario, Canada, and has been a worker in the woods from his .boyhood days. He has been a resi dent of Oregon for about 15 years. 1 asked him' if he brought his bank ac count with him, and his answer was that his only capital when he landed in Ore gon was his blankets and a remarkably good appetite. He still retains his appe tite, but he has also accumulated some thing of a bank account, to which be is addiRg a, little every day; but no one entdfes 'him thk. There .are a.mnnBer of other logging' railroads in Ce4umba. County, and many camps and. mitts. 'At Clatskanic the Ben-J son Company has a road about six" miles long, thoroughly well bulli, ' with heavy rails and standard-gauge; the In tention being to extend to the Nehalfini Valley as soon as circumstances. wiH.ius tify. At present the Benson camp is. idle, though the cars are running and trans porting considerable lumber, shingles, etc. Mr. Benson Is operating on the "Washing ton side, where ho has a large-araountH)f 2,-mber that must be removed" rwithin a stated time. He will probably return to Clatskanle next year. A newldggfng road will soon be built by Jennings- & McCrae, of Portland, who o.wrt" lrge tracts olJ timber on the Columbia-side" of the Fishhawk divide. At Rainier a Mr. Rocky, supposed p, be connected with Benson, Is building a ne.w road. a At Goble Is the Goble and Nenalesa log ging road, with probably mop. 'capital back of it than any other similar "con cern In Oregon, and also with .the ypwed intention of penetrating to the Ne.balem Valley. At Columbia City is the ColumbiS.'Ctty and Nehalem logging road, with '"Messrs. Giltner & Sewall, of Portfarid.aathe proprietors. . w The principal place of business of' all these companies is- Portland. Their .sup plies are purchased In the "metropolis and it is very evident that iPortland is vitally interested in their succeg arid in. the general development of the "country In which they operate. Right -Sereat your door is the greatest field ftr-'Port-land capital. We have timber, coif Iron, marl and other minerals in the'grealeet abundance. The Portland cement forth Pacific Coast and for Asia "sftou!dCTba manufactured, here, within 20 miles of-"the. city that te paying freight upon 'ft'acrosa the continent. The eloquent onL' Rich ardson might put in his time tb eotiWer able advantage convincing Pprtlandca.p-, ItaJIsts that there is soraeththir IwkV profitable thaa S per ceat a nd&ciief. .a cuiated. t'e promote the growth' ;ind rs perity of the eoentry- 35: 1L kyiAJ;